ShopRite’s Got Taste

For the fourth straight year, ShopRite will be the presenting sponsor of the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, which will take place Saturday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 2 at New York City’s historic Pier 57 on the Hudson River. Proceeds from the event will once more go to hunger-relief initiatives through the Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength.

One of the festival’s most popular attractions, The Grand Tasting Presented by ShopRite won’t just showcase the chain’s premier line of limited-edition specialty products, but will also offer attendees signature dishes from the city’s most prestigious restaurants and wine and spirit makers over the two-day event.

This year, attendees will be able to sample recipes showcasing a selection of ShopRite private label specialty and limited-edition ingredients. Among the exclusive recipes to be featured at the festival are Pasta with Crumbled Sausage tossed in a Spinach Cream Sauce, featuring ShopRite Imported Organic Pasta; Garden to Table Pasta Salad, featuring ShopRite Imported Organic Pasta and ShopRite Imported Basting Oil; Pasta with Butternut Squash, Carmelized Onions and Pancetta with a Rosemary Brown Butter, featuring ShopRite Imported Organic Pasta; and Pasta Pie, featuring ShopRite Imported Organic Pasta and ShopRite Imported Campania Grown Cherry Tomatoes.
“More and more people are discovering the joys of cooking at home,” noted Lynn Logg, ShopRite’s corporate executive chef and head of the chain’s Culinary Workshop, who created the recipes. “ShopRite products, which boast specialty and imported restaurant-quality ingredients, help our customers turn everyday meals into extraordinary meals. The Grand Tasting is the perfect venue to showcase all that the ShopRite brand has to offer -- the authenticity and taste that foodies love, at affordable prices for the gourmet chef in everyone.”

“Not only does the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival help place New York City’s food scene center stage, but it also lets the public know that ShopRite is more than a neighborhood supermarket, it is a culinary resource for home chefs,” added Joe Gozzi, director of Specialty Foods at Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food Corp., the distribution and merchandising arm of ShopRite supermarkets.

In other ShopRite news, New Jersey ShopRite stores will honor six top-performing high school athletic programs this fall with the ShopRite Cup. Now in its eighth year, the ShopRite Cup is presented jointly by ShopRite stores and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). Six winning schools – four public and two nonpublic – have received the award annually since the program began in 2004.

“Awareness of the ShopRite Cup competition has grown tremendously since we first started this program, making it a coveted prize for schools and student athletes alike,” said Steve Timko, executive director of the Robbinsville-based NJSIAA. “Our participants not only learn the importance of teamwork during the season but also the benefits of hard work and determination. Whether they receive the cup or not, all of our athletes are winners.”

To win, schools garnered ShopRite Cup points by finishing in the top four in their group’s state championship competitions in 32 NJSIAA-sanctioned sports during the 2010-2011 school year. The ShopRite Cup additionally rewards bonus points for sportsmanship.

Recipients of the 2011 ShopRite Cup are Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Delsea Regional High School, St. Rose of Belmar High School, Christian Brothers Academy, New Providence High School and Haddonfield Memorial High School

Award ceremonies this year will include presentations of trophies and banners for the winning schools to hang in their gymnasiums. The schools’ local ShopRites will also display congratulatory banners.

More than 230 stores under the ShopRite banner operate in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, serving more than 5 million customers weekly.